TEAM USA – TEAM RUSSIA: WHAT WE LEARNED The Americans thrilling 3-2 shootout win over Russia was a fantastic game that had just about everything. The game appears to have caught the attention of so many around the United States and it’s all anyone seems to be talking about which is great to see. T.J. Oshie (4-or-6 in shootout) had the heroics, scoring four times in the shootout, and beat Sergei Bobrovsky between legs in the eighth round for the epic win. Oshie who the casual hockey fan probably never heard of, has suddenly become a household name. He got a shout out from the White House to gaining almost 100,000 twitter followers today since scoring the game winning goal. He started the day at 90,000 and now has 190,000 followers as of 8:00 p.m. Oshie was asked by a reporter on how he it feels to be an AmericanRead More »

SOME NOTES ON PENGUINS & OTHERS FROM THURSDAY’S ACTION United States 7 – Slovakia 1 — Paul Martin and Ryan Suter each led Team USA in ice time with 19:46 TOI. Martin was an even rating in the win and in a blowout like this one, the ice time stats in the first period tell the story where the coaches view particular players right now. Bylsma, as expected, leaned heavily on Martin who had 6:25 of ice time in the first period, second to Suter. Martin, Suter and Kevin Shattenkirk (19:14) all played over 19 minutes. — Brooks Orpik was a +3 but saw the least amount of ice time among all defensemen with 10:51 TOI. Bylsma dressed seven defensemen and Orpik was the only defenseman to play under 13 minutes. What was telling with Orpik is that he only played 1:26 in the first period. The buzz on OrpikRead More »

GAME 5 BUZZ (1) Tonight we learn a lot about this Penguins team. “We’re preparing for best of three,” head coach Dan Bylsma said. Over in the West, what you see from a top Cup contender in the Chicago Blackhawks, No. 1 seed, is that they have a killer instinct and know how to put away an inferior team. Leading 2-1 in the series, they didn’t give the Minnesota Wild any breathing room in Game 4, and took command of their series with a 3-0 shutout win in Game 4 on Tuesday night to take a 3-1 series lead. By contrast the Penguins are regressing in this series after a dominating Game 1 performance. “This can be great for us,” winger Jarome Iginla said of the Penguins dealing with the adversity of this series. (2) Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma is taking a lot of heat for the lack ofRead More »

SUNDAY’S PENS BUZZ MALKIN & MARTIN UPDATE Evgeni Malkin practiced fully today and did take some contact. He said he would like to have a few more practices under his belt before returning to the lineup but didn’t rule himself out for tomorrow night, saying “we’ll see” about playing vs the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bylsma said that while Malkin has been cleared for contact, he still needs to pass an impact test. Malkin said the only issues he had following the injury was memory loss and that the injury looked worse than it really was. Meanwhile, Paul Martin skated today going through individual workouts prior to practice but head coach Dan Bylsma has ruled Martin out for tomorrow night’s game. Expect the same six defensemen to dress tomorrow night. Marc Andre Fleury will start in goal. SOME TAKEAWAY’S FROM LAST NIGHT’S WILD 7-6 WIN *Of all the negatives defensively lastRead More »

SENATORS – PENGUINS ANALYSIS Paul Martin running the power play continues to be a huge difference for the Penguins who have scored a power play goal in six straight games. Martin has become a calming presence and the Penguins puck movement from the triangle on the sides and into the slot to break down the penalty kill has been the difference in the past handful of games with Martin running the point. “{Paul’s} poised back there, finds open man,” Sidney Crosby said. He keeps it pretty simple.” James Neal’s power play goal at 13:47 of the second period from 32 ft out was text book Neal who found open space in slot and beat Anderson with time and space. Given Neal that type of time and space from that spot, he’s going to score seven out of ten times. “He’s {James Neal} got a great shot,” Crosby said.” Tough toRead More »

TEAMS STILL CALLING ABOUT MARTIN Penguins GM Ray Shero received a number of calls on defenseman Paul Martin around the draft, with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild among the teams expressing the most interest. While the Lightning and Wild are believed to no longer have interest, the Penguins keep getting inquires on the inconsistent defenseman who the Penguins and others seem to feel will rebound in 2012-2013.

Trade Buzz: Thursday’s 1-for-1 trade of young underperforming players saw the Minnesota Wild acquire center Victor Rask from the Carolina Hurricanes for left winger Nino Niederreiter. Carolina did an excellent job of being able to get out of the Rask contract, who has three years remaining with a $4 million cap hit. Rask has 1 goal, 5 assists on the season, mirrored in a 22-game goal drought. The logic here for Minnesota is taking the chance on a playmaking center who can help fill a top-9 spot longer term if the Wild move on from Eric Staal. Minnesota is also playing the card that a change of scenery will benefit the 24-year old who posted a career-high 21 goals, 48 points in 2015-2016.

Niederreiter’s trade value was stunted because of his contract, where he has three years left on his deal with a $5.25 million cap hit. Niederreiter is a player who is extremely hard to play against, drives possession well, and has three 20 goal seasons over his last four full seasons. Injuries (18 goals in 63 games) kept him from a 4th straight 20-goal season in 17-18. The Niederreiter acquisition also sets up as great insurance for the Hurricanes if they can’t resign Micheal Ferland. In the short-term, Carolina’s center situation is a mess with Jordan Staal sidelined with a concussion, but they’re getting the better player who fits the identity they’re trying to establish upfront, especially on the wings where they’ve identified the need for Patric Hornqvist type players.